Chow Train team feeds homeless

Patrick Harris eats a meal from the Chow Train off Austin Highway. Joan Cheever, who founded the nonprofit food truck, and her team offer free, gourmet-style meals to feed the homeless and the hungry.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Joan Cheever, founder of The Chow Train, puts a piece of bread on a plate given to an individual at Maverick Park on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. Cheever and other volunteers have cooked gourmet-level meals to feed the homeless and the hungry for years. The non-profit group serves meals at various locations around San Antonio and recently served up a Thanksgiving meal to feed the needy. Cheever primarily does the cooking of all the food which she gets from donations.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Ray Salines dines on a plate of feed at a stop by The Chow Train off Austin Highway on Tuesday, Nov. 19 2013.

More Information

SAN ANTONIO — One recent cold night, the homeless and hungry emerged out of the darkness to enjoy cuisine traditionally served by candlelight.

Several bundled-up men lined up at the tailgates of a truck and an SUV parked off Austin Highway for an early holiday meal. Headlights from passing cars lit the men and volunteers from the Chow Train, a local nonprofit food truck that provided the feast.

The menu included butternut squash soup with fried sage leaves and roasted turkey with cranberry orange salsa. Many in line knew the nonprofit's founder, Joan Cheever, as Chef Joan, who has one caveat: Eat a bowl of vegetable soup, for a jolt of nutrition, before the main course.

Patrick Harris from Sterling, Colo., sat on a curb with several men eating from plastic plates propped on duffel bags and bent knees.“I think it's great they're feeding the homeless,” said Harris, 56.

He was one of 50 people from Austin Highway to downtown's Maverick Park warmed that night by Cheever's free, hot gourmet meal. It was the first of the food team's regular stops, where Cheever and her crew practice their motto, “Fighting hunger. One plate at a time.”

Recently, Cheever's Chow Train was one of four food trucks featured in the November issue of Rachael Ray's magazine. The trucks were recognized for putting a 21st-century spin on traditional holiday soup kitchens.

In addition to feeding the homeless, Cheever's team also contributes to other causes. Last week, the Chow Train served dinner at the homeless teenage kids' Holiday Christmas Party for the nonprofit group Stand Up For Kids-San Antonio.

Cheever, an attorney and author, said fighting hunger should be on everyone's mind, especially youngsters living in poverty in Bexar County.

“The numbers are increasing in San Antonio,” she said. “I believe that San Antonio has the hungriest children in the state. How can you learn when you're hungry?”

She began her outreach nine years ago, when her two children were tweens and would complain about small things. One day, she cooked a big pot of chili and drove them and their friends to the streets to feed people she said had a right to complain.

“I was raised in a family where the community has a duty to help others,” she said.

Cheever founded the nonprofit in May 2011. She went to the culinary program at St. Philip's College to learn how to prepare healthy dishes. At that time, she noticed an increase of food trucks in San Antonio and thought it was a great way to get food out to people.

Cheever's friend Shannon Sachanowicz said they've fed people who have homes but struggle to feed their families. Sometimes, she said, they just need a hug. “Just the smallest kindness means so much,” she said. “You get to know them, their stories and what's happening in their lives.”

Cheever's team also has fed many at out-of-state disaster sites. In 2011, the devastation from tornadoes in Joplin, Mo., prompted her to take her 14-foot mobile truck to the area.

In 2012, the team fed volunteers at an ABC “Extreme Makeover” for a wounded warrior, Southside Boys & Girls Club and Stand Up for Kids.

At the second stop of the Chow Town's usual run this wintry night, near Terrell Plaza, Ray “Mundo” Salinas picked up his meal. “The meals here, words cannot describe it. It's just delicious,” said Salinas, 55. “For what these people do, they should be rewarded.”

At Broadway and East Josephine Street, the team served several people behind the 16th hole of the Brackenridge Park Golf Course. Cheever gave bags of dog food to a woman who asked for tidbits for her dog.

Close to 40 people filed up at the team's last stop at Maverick Park. Friederick McCutcheon said Cheever and her team have always been there to serve a three-course meal, just like at a high-class restaurant.“I've never tasted anything bad,” said McCutcheon, 57. “It's a wholesome, good meal.”